New Zealand... Sweet As
Trip Start
Nov 18, 2008
1
25
55
Trip End
Nov 17, 2009
Christchurch,
South Island,
New Zealand
Monday, March 2, 2009
We've been here over 3 weeks now and love this place.
It all kicked off with purchasing a car in Christchurch. It all seemed good - a station wagon (estate car to us!) it's a black 4WD Subaru Legacy and seems to be a bit of a racey model with lowered suspension, twin exhausts, alloy wheels and despite it's vintage-1993- it has some cool features like electric windows and cup holders and a CD player. It even has a POWER button for extra Ooomph going uphill!! So we thought we'd made a good purchase! We put 4 new tyres on immediately as they weren't looking too good.
The following week, having slept in the car in a quiet spot down a side road we woke to find the battery flat so after several attempts to push start it, and Pete getting soggy feet pushing through a puddle a nice man passed, rolled up his sleeves to help push, then informed us you can't push-start an automatic! Ahh!! Luckily he drove into town, brought some jump leads and we were off and running again. So that afternoon we had the battery tested and promptly bought a new one!
Then there was the jammed seat belt incident when we were unable to get them to release far enough to reach the plug! So another garage trip beckoned. Luckily that was easily sorted and we now know that the seat belts don't release if the car's parked on an angle! OK!!
Then the following week we had some trouble with a noise from the engine which was the start of an adventure which ended with the car overheating and breaking down half way up a hill in the pouring rain! So that was good, but the following day, after sleeping in the car overnight, we topped up the coolant tank and managed to drive to a garage where we purchased some oil and topped that up too. Unfortunately that wasn't the end of it though and another trip to a happy mechanic revealed that we had a defective water pump and thermostat and were in need of another cam belt! So that was a bit if a hefty bill but it also revealed that we have some blown head gaskets in there too! So on the mechanics advice we now top up the tank daily and joined the AA as a precaution! Aaaagh!
Still, after all that we still love the car, and it's got us a fair distance.....
Up to Picton to walk the Queen Charlotte track with Fiona which was very good the first day and very soggy the second day but nice views and good company.
Then onto Marlborough region for some wine sampling on some bikes! That was fun and we now know our Riesling from our Chardonnay and even our Gewurztraminer! (Oooooh fancy that!)
From there we viewed some very cute seals on the coast and headed for the dramatic Pancake rocks of Punakaki which were pretty cool at high tide with the water forcing its way up some funky blowholes.
Heading south we saw the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers which were cool (get it?) and onto Wanaka where we took in the Agricultural show and ate some strawberries. Also met Grieg, a guy we'd last seen in Banos, Ecuador! He's a funny guy and had posted his rucksack home as he was fed up being a backpacker! Unfortunately I think he's posted his soap home too!
Then onto action packed Queenstown where we saw people leaping off ledges on Bungee jumps, people floating around in the sky on hangliders, parachutes and skydivers. People in jet boats, huge sailing boats, para-sailors, BMX tricksters etc.. Even sitting in the park having a sandwich a guy walked past juggling 3 clubs as he went, and another guy cycled past us playing a guiter as he cycled! It was all happening there. We walked up Bob's Peak and had a go on the Luge which was like a downhill go-cart on a concrete track so good fun!
From there we headed South again and popped into Milford Sound which was very cool, and luckily all the mornings rain had cleared up and left blue skies and gushing waterfalls, which Pete got a bit close to and got soaked whilst I ran inside, blocking the doorway (ooops!) and took the photos!
We then visited the Clifton caves and saw the rugged Catlins coastline which was pretty and home to the Yellow-Eyed Penguins, some of the worlds rarest. We also saw more seals, sea lions and possibly some elephant seals too! (they were quite far away!)
Dunedin gave us the opportunity to visit a Beer factory which culminated in a pull-your-own-pints free-for-all at the bar. So we got the guy chatting and managed to fit in a few drinks. We also had a tour of the Cadbury's factory which was interesting and we each came away with a bag of chocolates including the Perky Nana bar made only in NZ!
We also popped past the Moreaki Boulders and luckily the tide was out so we saw them -about 20 spherical boulders, interesting.
In general this country is so laid back and fun and despite the language barrier- "Sweet As", "She'll be right" and Pete constantly being called "Bro" by everyone we're having a great time! Especially as Fush and Chups are about 4 bucks (that's 1pound70p!)
After all that traveling about we're now back up North in Kaikoura and about to begin working on the Grapevines but we decided to treat ourselves to a bit of an adventure and both did a Tandem Skydive this morning!! It was totally amazing and we're still grinning even now! We jumped from 12000feet, of which 7000feet was in free-fall and took 45seconds! Man, what a rush -it was great. We then had a go of steering the parachute ane Henk the instructor was really entertaining. In the plane flight on the way up we saw hundreds of dolphins out in the bay so that was a bonus. Who knows what he next few weeks will bring.....
